Tire side wall mold



Nov. 6, 1951 J. E. COLLINS ETAL 2,574,171

. TIRE SIDE WALL MOLD Filed May 6, 1947 2 SHEETS-"SHEET 1 &\ 5 1 Z7 2370 225141555 Cozy/v5,

[/VVE/VfORS Arroemzrs.

NOV. 6, 1951 J COLLINS ETAL 2,574,171

TIRE SIDE WALL MOLD Filed May a, 1947 2 SHEETSSHEET z .ZJvnavraes W;

Patented Nov. 6, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT onucs James E'. Collins,Maywoo'd, and Arthur W;

Douglas, Los Angeles, Calif, assignors to American Tire Machinery,:Inc., Los Angeles,. Calif., a, corporation of: California ApplicationMay 6 1947, Serial No. 746,302

Claims. 1

'lfhis invention relates to a tire side wall mold and is particularlydirected to apparatus for vulcanizing a side wall to ,a tire within arecapping and retreading mold;

Retreading and recapping molds are well known in the art andare'commercially available but the uses of this conventional equip mentare confined mainly to replacing rubber or rubber-like material on thetread or shoulders of the tire after it has become worn in service.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel form ofapparatus'for adapting such conventional type molds for vulcanizing anew side wall to a new or used tire. The purpose of vulcanizing a newside wall on a tire may be principally for ornamental'reasons or forstructural improvement of the tire side wall. The new side wall may beWhite or colored, depending on the color of rubber-like material whichis to form the new exterior surface of the tire side wall. Therubber-like material to be applied is in the form of a thinannular sheetand is vulcanized to the tire under conditions of pressure and heat.

Another object of this invention includes the provision of an assemblyfor vulcaniZi-ng an annular sheet to the side wall of the tire, the tirebeing mounted within cooperating mold halves and being contacted on itsside walls by matrices removably supported within the mold halves.

Another object is to provide a device of this type including a removablenonresilient adjustable band encircling the tire within the mold adaptedto prevent radial expansion of the tire.

Another object is to provide such a device in which removable spacerblocks are mounted between the cooperating mold halves in order that aparticular set of matrices may be used for tires of different nominalwidths.

Another object is to provide a new and improved method of vulcanizing anannular sheet new side wall surface on a tire.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional elevation,

partly broken away, of the mold shown 'inFigures l and 2 andillustrating a preferred form of our invention. Figure i is a partialside elevation showing the details-oi construction of the adjustableband employed in connection with our invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the nonresilient internal ring.

I Figure 6 is a plan view of the side wall matrix,

Referring to the drawings, the tire vulcanizingand recapping moldassembly illustrated in Figures 1- and 2 may be of the general typeillustrated-in the Cleveland Patent No. 2,231,254, granted February 11-,194-1; or may be of any conventional type employing a full circle splitring mold.

Q As shown in the drawings, the mold bvdy" generallydesignatedHiincludes an upper mold section; H and a lower mold section 12 joinedbya connection mechanism 13-. Powercylinders 14, acting through rods I5, are adapted toopen and close the mold'as desired. The mold body 'HI;may be supported in any convenient fashion, such as, for example, thelegs -I 6'.

and nuts-l9. The bol-ts'may be swung from the inoperative position showntoa position between cooperating lugs 20 provided on the upper mpldsection H, and in suchposition tightening of the nuts serves to clampthe mold sections against separation.

The movable spacer blocks 21 are provided for adjusting the spacing ofthe mold sections in the closed position-in order to compensate forvarying nominal widths of the tire 22 enclosed by themold.

- The upper and lower mold sections and- I2,

respectively. are provided with the usual steam chambers23. Secured tothe upper mold section matrix 2! is secured tothelower mold section l:2

by-means-of threaded connections 28. This side wall matrix is alsocurved-to conform to the side wall-of the tire. Thesurface 26-01. on theupper matrix 25 is considerably less in extent than the surface 21-11 ofthe side wall matrix '21 and is positioned remote from the steamchambers- 23,

annular sheet 32 is subjected serves to vulcanize the sheet to the tireside wall 40.

The annular beads 29 and 30 prevent flow of the material of the sheet 32laterally beyond the position of the beads.

If desired, an annular groove 49 may be provided in the side wall matrix21 adjacent the outer bead ring 30. During the vulcanizing operation,the rubber from the annular sheet 32 flows .into this groove andsimulates a beauty-rib on the finished tire.

matrix 21 leading from the surface 3| to the back side of the matrix. Anannular ledge 34 is provided on the inner circumference of the side wallmatrix 21 and is adapted to support a nonresilient inside pressure ring35. This ring 35 is provided with handles 36 to facilitate manualinstallation and removal of the ring 35 within the mold body Ill. may beprovided to accommodate different tire sizes. A cutout slot 31 isprovided in the ring 35 through which the valve 38 of the air bag 39 isadapted to extend. The air bag 39 fits within the tire 22 and serves toexpand the tire in every direction and thereby maintain the annularsheet 32 in compression between the tire side wall 40 and the surface 3|of the matrix 21.

Means are provided for preventing radial expansion of the tire 22 and,as shown in the drawings, this means includes a nonresilient adjustableband generally designated 4|. This band is mounted on the tire 22 priorto its installation within the mold body In and is adjustable tocompensate for varying diameters of the tire. This is essential sinceworn tires vary considerably in outside diameter. I

A lever 42 pivotally mounted on the band 4| at 43 is connected by a link44 to a fitting 45 secured on the opposite end of the band 4|. The end46 of the link 44 remote from the lever 42 is adapted to enter any oneof a plurality of openings 41 provided in the fitting 45. The bandassembly is first placed around the tire with the lever in its releasedposition. The end 46 of the link 44 is then engaged in one of thenotches 41 and the lever 42 swung in a clockwise direction as viewed at44 until the lever 42 lies adjacent the band 4|, as viewed in Figure 4.

In such a position the tire is radially confined by the nonresilientband and the linkage arrangement is such that the forward end 48 of thelink passes over center with respect to the pivot 42 and there is,accordingly, no tendency for the lever 42 to return towards its extendedposition.

, The annular sheet 32 is positioned on the matrix 21. After thenonresilient band 4| has been mounted on the tire 22 and the tireinstalled within the mold body I, insert blocks 2| are mounted betweenthe mold sections for proper spacing of the matrices 25 and 21. The moldsections are then clamped on the spacer mem- ,:bers 2| by means of thepower cylinders l4 and -the eye-bolts ii are then utilized to clamp the'mold sections and i2 in position.

Pneumatic pressure is then admitted into the air bag 39 through thevalve 38 to expand the tire into engagement with the matrices andannular sheet 32, and to imbed the bead rings 29 and 3|! into the sidewall 40 of the tire. The sheet 32 is thus maintained under compressionbetween the tire side wall 40 and the surface 3| of the matrix 21. Steamis then admitted into the steam chambers 23 for the purpose of heating.the

.matrix 21. .The heat. and pressure to which the Pressure rings ofvarious diameters After a suitable interval of time has elapsed,pressure within the air bag 39 is released and the eye-bolts H are swungback to their inoperative position. The power cylinders H are thenenergized to lift the upper mold section away from the lower moldsection |2 to expose the tire 22. The tire and band assembly 4| areremoved from the mold as a unit. The band is then mounted on anothertire and the operation is repeated.

Having fully described our invention, it is to be understood that we donot wish to be limited to the details herein set forth. but ourinvention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a tire vulcanizing mold, the combination of a pair of cooperatingmold sections adapted to receive a tire, the mold sections being sep-'arable along a plane normal to the tire axis, an annular matrixremovably mounted in each of the mold sections and curved to conform tothe contour of one side wall of the tire, concentric bead rings on oneof said matrices defining in.- her and outer boundaries of an annularsheet confined between that matrix and the tire, an adjustablenon-resilient band removably mounted on and encircling the tire toprevent radial expansion thereof, a non-resilient ring disposed withinthe tire, and pressure means within the tire for maintaining the tireside walls in pressure contact with said matrices.

2. In a device for vulcanizing a thin annular sheet of rubber-likematerial to the side wall of a tire, the combination of a mold bodyadapted to receive a tire, said mold body comprising a pair of moldsections separable along a plane normal to the tire axis, an annularmatrix removably mounted in each of said mold sections and curved toconform to the contour of one side wall of the tire, one of saidmatrices being adapted to receive said annular sheet of rubber-likematerial, said one matrix having a relatively large surface contact withits respective mold section, the other matrix having a relatively smallsurface contact with its respective mold section, and means to heat bothof said mold sections, whereby the matrix having the large surfacecontact may be heated to a temperature higher than the matrix having thesmall surface contact.

3. In a device for vulcanizing a thin annular sheet of rubber-likematerial to the side wall of a tire, the combination of a mold bodyadapted to receive a tire, said mold body comprising a pair of moldsections separable along a plane normal to the tire axis, an annularmatrix removably mounted in each of the mold sections, one of saidmatrixes adapted to support the thin annular sheet in position againstthe tire side wall, inner and outer concentric bead rings on the lattermatrix adapted to be coextensive with the inner and outer circumferencesof the thin annular sheet, a non-resilient adjustable band encirclingthe tire within the mold body and adapted to prevent radial expansion ofthe tire, means in the tire adapted to maintain the thin annular sheetunder pressure between the said matrix and the tire side wall, and meanson the mold body adapted to heat the matrix.

4. In a device for vulcanizing a thin annular sheet of rubber-likematerial to the side wall of a tire, the combination of a mold bodyadapted to receive a tire, said mold body comprising a pair of moldsections separable along a plane normal to the tire axis, an annularmatrix removably mounted in each of the mold sections, one of saidmatrixes adapted to support the thin annular sheet in position againstthe tire side wall, inner and outer concentric bead rings formedintegrally on the latter matrix and defining an annular ring to receivethe thin annular sheet, a nonresilient adjustable band removably mountedon and encircling the tire Within the mold body and adapted to preventradial expansion of the tire, fluid pressure means in the tire adaptedto maintain the thin annular sheet under pressure between the saidmatrix and the tire side wall, and means on the mold body adapted toheat the matrix.

5. In a device for vulcanizing a thin annular sheet of rubber-likematerial to the side wall of a tire, the combination of a mold bodyadapted to receive a tire, said mold body comprising a pair of moldsections separable along a plane normal to the tire axis, removablespacer blocks interposed between the mold sections, releasable means formaintaining the mold sections against separation, an annular matrixremovably mounted in each of the mold sections and adapted to supportthe thin annular sheet in position against the tire side wall, inner andouter concentric bead rings on the latter matrix adapted to becoextensive with the inner and outer circumferences of the thin annularsheet, a nonresilient adjustable band encircling the tire within themold body and adapted to prevent radial expansion of the tire, means inthe tire adapted to maintain the thin annular sheet under pressurebetween the said matrix and the tire side wall, and means on the moldbody adapted to heat the matrix.

JAMES E. COLLINS.

ARTHUR W. DOUGLAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,181,558 Beckman Nov. 28, 19392,319,447 Drennan May 18, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date418,930 Great Britain Nov. 2, 1934

